The Importance of Debating: Enhancing the Oral Communication Strand
Making a Writing Jar
Morphology Works: The Importance of Reading
The second tool I found to be interesting was a site focusing on a wide variety of apps that teachers would be able to use in the classroom to promote reading. The site itemizes the apps and allows teachers to access a full description of each app. To add, these apps are geared for students in the primary and junior grades. Here is the link to this useful site:
Media Studies: Maker Activities
The Main Source to Stimulate thinking:
When exploring ideas of what is a good way to enhance the oral communication skill for students, a great activity to use is a debate. For several decades, debate forums have been used to enhance the critical thinking skills of individuals; while improving their listening skills. A great document to read over is called, "Debate: Where Speaking and Listening Come First." Before further exploration of this blog post, please take a look at the document and explore of what using a debate really signifies. Here is the link provided below:
What Does it all Mean?
This document focuses around the idea that the oral communication instruction can be done through the use of a debate. Debating can have extraordinary value for students in terms of their public speaking skills.The belief is that if students participate in a mock debate with their peers, this will boost a student's self-confidence; as well as improving their critical thinking and oral communication skills.
Firstly, educators must establish an environment where students can work collaboratively to improve their listening and effective communicating skills. A main structure to establish about debating is to not yell at the opponent; but rather listening attentively and respond by presenting valid points. Overall, the debate must be structured and organized; and is easily adaptable across the curriculum.
How Can this Activity Apply to My Practicum Placement?
Although my placement is in a Grade 4 classroom, I believe that a structured debate would be a great way for all students to fell included in classroom activities. A debate helps lead to student-cantered learning and the development of critical-thinking skills.
Through observation, I noticed that some students in my class are a bit more reserved in sharing ideas with classmates; either in a large group or small group setting. Using a debate will result in these more reserved students to feel comfortable with public speaking and sharing ideas with classmates. Educators strive to create an all inclusive classroom. Using this method, students will learn to listen attentively to their peers and come up with responses that are valuable to the conversation.
For my Grade 4 placement students, I would begin by picking a general topic of discussion; possibly from a newspaper article. From the article, or text, I will ask if students agree or disagree with a statement I have made; and students must go to the appropriate side of the room (agree or disagree) they feel they connect with more. With their peers, they are given the opportunity to share their ideas and views about the topic of discussion. This activity would help students get comfortable with sharing and formulating ideas before using a more structured, planned and organized debate; whereby students are given classroom time to prepare points with their group.
In addition, I would also get students to record their ideas using a graphic organizer, such as the one provided below:
Pagliaro, T. © 2016.
It would also be useful to consult Pinterest to find some additional topic and organizing ideas for students to use while doing a debate activity. Here is a link to a great Pinterest board; full of many useful tools on how to build an argument and on debates:
Please explore the following link; which provides great ideas of different topics a teacher can use to prompt a debate: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/debate-topics-for-elementary-students.html
Pagliaro, T. © 2016.
Making Connections:
Pre-service and in-service educators will benefit from reading this document due to its many learning advantages. Using a debate, such as one students may have seen on the news as an exemplar, promotes an active learning environment for students. This method allows each student to actively participate and share his or her points on a certain topic of discussion.
In addition, it can be modified to suit the needs of each grade and its diverse learners. Extroverted students are able to improve their listening skills, as introverted students improve their speaking skills. In sum, this type of interactive and engaging activity improves academic success for students; and helps to develop their learning skills and work habits.
Making a Writing Jar
Writing has proven to be a very important aspect of the language curriculum in Ontario. According to the language document, "Writing is a complex process that involves a range of skills and tasks. Students need to become disciplined thinkers in order to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively." Writing is able to help students comprehend their own thoughts and and acquire a deeper understanding of the content in all subjects in school.
For this week's resource, I chose a resource found on Brock's IRC Pinterest page that focuses on making prompts for students to begin writing. In this case, a teacher has a jar that is filled with various writing prompts. Students can then pick a prompt from the jar to obtain an idea of where to begin their writing. The site also provides useful downloads that have an ample amount of prompts that teachers can use to put in the jar. The teacher may also use any prompt he or she comes up with as well. Here is a link to this helpful resource:
The writing prompt jar would be a great tool to use in the classroom. Students sometimes have difficulties coming up with an idea of where to begin writing. Not that the students do not have the skill, they just need a little extra push to get them jumpstarted with displaying what's in their heads down on a piece of paper.
Krista. Farm from Normal. 2016.Making a Writing Jar [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://werefarfromnormal.com/2016/02/make-a-writing-jar-plus-101-prompts-to-fill-it.html
This prompt jar will provide the means for students to use their creative writing skills to create a piece of writing based on the prompt he or she picks. These types of activities will allow students to express their creativity; as well as develop skills in the different writing techniques.
The site provides a few tips for using the jar and prompts. They include: 1) "Why? Is implied", 2) Set standards, 3) There are a lot of ways to use this, 4) Offer a choice, 5) Use them once or many times. These tips will help educators set off light bulbs for students and to get them writing about subjects they are interested in.
If the teacher is unable to come up with prompts on their own, the websites provides numerous pdf files that supply the teacher with an ample amount of creative ideas. Here is an example of a prompt template:
Pagliaro, T. © 2016.
I would definitely use this resource in my class with Grade 4 students. For the afternoon, this time is allocated for literacy. During this portion of time, students will be able to randomly pick a prompt from the jar and use this to begin writing. This will help the students of my practicum class to develop their writing skills, since they are still at a young age, and develop their vocabulary for future writing assignments.
Overall, this would be a great tool to use with students for literacy. It promotes the display of the students creativity; as well as providing an outlet for students to enhance their writing skills. The writing prompts allow students to write about concepts they enjoy; and make the task of writing engaging for them in order to create an active learning environment.
Krista. Farm from Normal. 2016.Making a Writing Jar [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://werefarfromnormal.com/2016/02/make-a-writing-jar-plus-101-prompts-to-fill-it.html
Reading is a very important strand in the language portion of the curriculum. For educators, a great resource to use for language is EduGAINS. This site is able to provide various resources and activities to help students develop their reading skills. Therefore, I chose a great resource that can be found on the EduGAINS site. This document is called, "Morphology Works" and focuses on the importance of vocabulary and its resulting contribution to the cognitive development in children. The resource also highlights different ways in which teachers can introduce the aspect of morphology into their classrooms. A student's vocabulary is an important aspect to develop; since the greater one's vocabulary, the higher the level of comprehension.
I chose this resource firstly on the basis that I had taken many linguistic sources in university; one of which being morphology. Therefore, the title instantly caught my attention due to my educational connection.
EduGAINS Twitter page. 2014. Display Picture [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/edugainsedu
Stowe, Mary. 2016. Words Dealing with Morphology [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/teachtechnique/teachingmorphology/index.php
I believe this document could be very useful for a teacher in order to help students develop a strong foundation for their vocabulary. Language is an important aspect of a child's cognitive development. The document stresses that word knowledge in language is important for literacy development; knowing all aspects of a word. These aspects include: word meanings, syntactic roles, how the word sounds, and how the word is written. Morphology is an important component of this word knowledge; which describes how words are composed into various parts, such as suffixes and prefixes. The below image provides an example of how students can use a root word, such as "sign," to help learn new words by adding a prefix or suffix to the word.
Real Spellers. English Makes Sense. [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://www.realspellers.org
In addition, the document supplies teachers with supplementary resources they can utilize for students. The resources provide interactive activities for students to complete and get engaged in the material. One of these supplementary resources is through the resource of "Real Spellers." This site provides educators links to various blogs, forums, articles and videos that are great resources for teachers to use in their classroom. Here is the link to the helpful site: http://www.realspellers.org
Through further exploration, I found another great resource for teachers to use in order to enhance reading in and outside of the classroom. Brock's IRC Pinterest page provides teachers with an ample amount of sites that they can implement in the classroom; two of which I thought were very useful tools.
The first tool can be found on the "EDventures with Kids" site. This site provides teachers with many websites that have Read Aloud Books and Read to Me Stories. I very much enjoy this site due to the wide variety of sources that are given. My favourite is "Storyline Online." This site has many stories that are read aloud by various celebrities. This read aloud method provides students with and engaging outlet to follow along with a story, while having someone else read. Below is an example of one of the videos. If anyone would like to access to the full site, it can be found at the following URL:
The second tool I found to be interesting was a site focusing on a wide variety of apps that teachers would be able to use in the classroom to promote reading. The site itemizes the apps and allows teachers to access a full description of each app. To add, these apps are geared for students in the primary and junior grades. Here is the link to this useful site:
Being in a Grade 4 classroom for my placement, I believe this would be a great tool to help students develop their word knowledge and vocabulary. After reading the document, I would choose one of the supplementary resources to use with the students. One of my choices would be "Real Spellers," which allows students that accompany a root word. This activity will make kids engaged while expanding their vocabulary. The site also allows teachers to share their findings and post them in a forum.
Overall, these sites provide teachers with great resources that he or she will be able to use in the classroom to engage students in reading a wide variety of texts; and in turn develop their vocabulary and comprehension skills.
A main component of classrooms in the 21st century is
the use of technological resources. In order to make learning more
engaging for students, there is a higher level of technology and
visual aids present in the classroom. The goal of an educator is to promote
a positive learning environment for students in order to ensure positive active
learning. Through these interactive resources, students and teachers will
benefit themselves as they are actively enhancing their learning and teaching
experiences.
A resource that I believe would be a great
asset in the classroom can be found on the blog site MiddleWeb. This is a short blog that focuses on an innovative tool
called “Maker Activities” that encourages curiosity driven learning in the
classroom. Here’s a TED Talk video that I found is a great resource that
explains the benefits of using technology in the classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv--5E3F83Y
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. 21st Century Mobile Social Learning [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2ec5i7X
In addition, the blog also touches upon
how these “Maker Activities” can be combined with STEM lessons in order to
continue to support the student’s curiosity. These STEM lessons are from a
great resource (a textbook) that can show different strategies teachers could
use in the classroom. Teachers and students can access this site at this URL: http://www.middleweb.com/32806/maker-spaces-can-round-out-stem-lessons/
I chose this resource because I believe
this would be a great opportunity for students to use their creative thinking
to learn in an engaging environment. These types of Maker Activities allow
students to explore materials, design, create and brainstorm for any subject material.
Students may work in small groups or
independently, in order to check their own ideas for possible solutions to a
problem given out by the teacher. In addition, students will be able to
showcase their findings through various social media sites such as Pinterest,
Blogger, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Joy Ride Marketing Co. 4 Social Media Sites Every Small Business Should Be On. 2016. Online Image. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dVMoUX
Once students showcase their work, they
will have the choice to show their ideas/findings to the class or just to the
teacher. This resourceful tool relates to the principles for Media Studies
outlined by the Ontario curriculum through its use of engaging graphics in the
form of images (online and book sources), social media sites (Blogger, Twitter,
Istagram, Pinterest) and videos (online sources). Students will be able to
receive the media and formulate their own ideas and effectively communicate
them within a group setting or just online for teacher viewing.
In a teaching practicum, I believe that
I’ll be able to use this for any subject area. As an example, a teacher could
use this Make Activity for a social studies assignment. The teacher could give
a subject, perhaps something to do with a certain time period, such as the
Medieval Times, and students will then be allowed to freely go use any
resources they wish to find out information.
From their findings, students will be able
to build off their own ideas in order to display this newly found information
using their choice of social media. These Maker Activities are similar to
Genius Hour projects in the sense that they promote free expression and
creativity in order to create an engaging learning environment.
I found a great resource, a Pinterest profile, for different maker activity ideas; which can be found in the following link: https://www.pinterest.com/DELibraries/maker-spaces-activities-700/
I found a great resource, a Pinterest profile, for different maker activity ideas; which can be found in the following link: https://www.pinterest.com/DELibraries/maker-spaces-activities-700/
Overall, I believe that Maker Activities
could be a useful tool for educators. These types of activities promote creative
learning in the classroom; while creating a positive learning experience for
students. Due to the promotion of using creative thinking, students will be
able to retain information better as a result of the engaging activities they
are completing.
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